Spellbound (Paula Abdul album)
Spellbound is the second studio album by American singer Paula Abdul, released in May 1991. The album was an international success and spawned major radio hits with the singles "Rush Rush", "The Promise of a New Day", "Blowing Kisses in the Wind", "Vibeology" and "Will You Marry Me?". The album went triple platinum in the United States and peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
Spellbound | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | May 14, 1991 | |||
Recorded | September 1990 – March 1991 | |||
Studio |
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Genre | ||||
Length | 49:03 | |||
Label |
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Producer |
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Paula Abdul chronology | ||||
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Singles from Spellbound | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Chicago Tribune | [2] |
Entertainment Weekly | C+[3] |
Los Angeles Times | [4] |
Robert Christgau | [5] |
Rolling Stone | [6] |
Slant | [7] |
Spellbound won a Grammy Award for Best Recording Package.
Some tracks are mixed using QSound.
Critical reception
In 2003, staff at Slant Magazine included Spellbound in its list of "50 Essential Pop Albums".[8]
Commercial performance
The album debuted at number five on the Billboard 200 in its first week and rose four spots to number one the following week. It stayed at the summit for two consecutive weeks, selling 88,000 and 89,000 units respectively. The album distinguished itself by becoming the lowest selling number-one album in the Nielsen SoundScan era at the time of its release—a distinction it held until 2004, when Outkast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below sold 86,000 copies while at number one.[9] This was primarily due to the newly implemented SoundScan tracking system, which had not been implemented into every major music chain, thus sales were not entirely accurate. Nevertheless, the album became a best-seller and emerged as the best selling album for the month of June, spending 16 weeks within the top 10, and was certified three-times platinum by the RIAA in January 1992.[10][11] Overall, the album spent 70 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart and was ranked as the 18th best-seller of the year.
Track listing
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
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1. | "The Promise of a New Daya" | Paula Abdul • Peter Lord • Sandra St. Victor • V. Jeffrey Smith | Lord • Smith | 4:32 |
2. | "Rock Housea" | Abdul • Lord • St. Victor • Smith | Lord • Smith | 4:11 |
3. | "Rush Rush" | Lord | Lord • Smith | 4:52 |
4. | "Spellbounda" | Abdul • Lord • St. Victor • Smith | Lord • Smith | 4:48 |
5. | "Vibeology" | Lord • St. Victor • Smith | Lord • Smith | 5:16 |
6. | "Ua" | Prince | Paisley Park | 4:05 |
7. | "My Foolish Heart" | Lord • Smith | Lord • Smith | 4:10 |
8. | "Blowing Kisses in the Winda" | Lord | Lord • Smith | 4:41 |
9. | "To Youa" | Jorge Corante • Colin England | England • Corante | 3:31 |
10. | "Alright Tonighta" | John Hiatt | Don Was | 4:28 |
11. | "Will You Marry Me?" | Abdul • Lord • St. Victor • Smith | Lord • Smith | 4:24 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
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6. | "Will You Marry Me?" | Abdul • Lord • St. Victor • Smith | Lord • Smith | 4:24 |
7. | "Ua" | Prince | Paisley Park | 4:05 |
8. | "My Foolish Heart" | Lord • Smith | Lord • Smith | 4:10 |
9. | "Blowing Kisses in the Winda" | Lord | Lord • Smith | 4:41 |
10. | "To Youa" | Jorge Corante • Colin England | England • Corante | 3:31 |
11. | "Alright Tonighta" | John Hiatt | Don Was | 4:28 |
12. | "Good Night, My Love (Pleasant Dreams)" (Bonus track) | George Motola • John Marascalco | Was | 3:14 |
Notes
Production
- Produced by Peter Lord, Paisley Park, V. Jeffrey Smith, Jorge Corante and Don Was
- Engineers: Wolfgang Aichholz, Ed Cherney, Don Feinerg, Arne Frager, Rod Hull, Michael Koppelman, Greg Laney, Dave Pensado
Personnel
- Paula Abdul - lead vocals, Synclavier II
- Sweet Pea Atkinson, Sir Harry Bowens, Sally Dworsky, Colin England, The Family Stand, Peter Lord, Arnold McCuller, Sandra St. Victor - backing vocals
- Mike Campbell, Mark Goldenberg, Randy Jacobs, Clifford Moonie Pusey, V. Jeffrey Smith - guitar
- Jorge Corante, Tom Hammer, Peter Lord, Ivan Neville, V. Jeffrey Smith - keyboards
- Jamie Muhoberac - organ
- Tim Drummond - bass
- Curt Bisquera, Rocky Bryant - drums
- Paulinho Da Costa - percussion
- Greg Adams - trumpet
- Steve Grove - tenor saxophone
- Stephen Kupka - baritone saxophone
- Stevie Wonder - harmonica
- Stuart Canin - violin
- Billy Heaslip - lighting director
- Robert Lobetta - photography
Charts
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
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Certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Australia (ARIA)[27] | Gold | 35,000^ |
Canada (Music Canada)[28] | 2× Platinum | 200,000^ |
Japan (RIAJ)[29] | Gold | 100,000^ |
Sweden (GLF)[30] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI)[31] | Gold | 100,000^ |
United States (RIAA)[32] | 3× Platinum | 3,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
References
- Bryan Buss. "Spellbound - Paula Abdul". AllMusic. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
- Jan DeKnock (1991-05-23). "Paula Abdul Spellbound (Virgin)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2013-03-28.
- David Browne (1991-05-17). "Spellbound". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2015-12-30.
- Dennis Hunt (1991-05-12). "Abdul Accents Vocals on 'Spellbound'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2013-03-28.
- Christgau, Robert. "Spellbound". Robert Christgau.
- Berger, Arion (1991-06-27). "Spellbound : Paula Abdul : Review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2007-12-11. Retrieved 2012-05-31.
- Henderson, Eric (2004-07-17). "Paula Abdul Spellbound". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2015-12-30.
- "Vital Pop: 50 Essential Pop Albums | Feature | Slant Magazine". Slant Magazine. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
- Inc (July 22, 2006). Billboard. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
- McAleer, Dave (1995). The All Music Book of Hit Albums. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 9780879303938. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
- "Album artist 456 – Paula Abdul". tsort.info. June 2, 2018. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
- "Australiancharts.com – Paula Abdul – Spellbound". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
- "Top RPM Albums: Issue 1557". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved July 28, 2013.
- "Lescharts.com – {{{artist}}} – {{{album}}}". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 28, 2013.
- "Dutchcharts.nl – Paula Abdul – Spellbound" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
- "Spellbound – Oricon", Oricon (in Japanese), retrieved February 21, 2009
- "Offiziellecharts.de – Paula Abdul – Spellbound" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
- "Charts.nz – Paula Abdul – Spellbound". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
- [{{{url}}} "{{{title}}}"] Check
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value (help). Retrieved September 27, 2016. - "Swedishcharts.com – Paula Abdul – Spellbound". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
- "Swisscharts.com – Paula Abdul – Spellbound". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
- "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
- "Paula Abdul Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
- "Paula Abdul Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
- https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1991/top-billboard-200-albums
- https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1992/top-billboard-200-albums
- Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988-2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
- "Canadian album certifications – Paula Abdul – Spellbound". Music Canada.
- "Japanese album certifications – Paula Abdul – Spellbound" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved March 6, 2020. Select 1992年11月 on the drop-down menu
- "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden.
- "British album certifications – Paula Abdul – Spellbound". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Spellbound in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
- "American album certifications – Paula Abdul – Spellbound". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH.